1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and file structure for producing fast and consistent visual medium materials. In particular, a hosted applications server is used to host Prepress applications. One such Prepress application is a process used to wash graphical files before they are incorporated into a consistent Print Ready File (PRF) structure. Washing is done to ensure that Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) graphics are structured in a consistent format.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The existing methods of procuring printed business materials are characterized by cumbersome and labor-intensive procedures. These procedures carry with them certain inefficiencies and are often prone to error. For the majority of small to medium sized printers, the printing of business cards, stationery, and the like, entails (at a minimum) a time-consuming series of steps, which generally must be repeated every time a new order is placed.
The present system provides for the automated creation of a PRF, as described in the incorporated references. Unlike prior art systems, this PRF has been configured to contain all the necessary information for printing a particular job. Once created, the PRF can be sent to many different vendors, over a variety of different mediums, and can be used to produce a consistent print job result each time.
The consistent processing of the file is also due, in part, to the treatment of the various jobs coming into the system. In prior systems, jobs were sent to a server (or group of servers) and processed according to a certain priority queue. Often the priority queue proved to be inadequate to properly distribute the jobs among the various servers. A more centralized system for handling many different client tasks is therefore needed, with effective load balancing provided between the various servers.
One such centralized task, described in more detail herein, is color washing of the EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) files. Postscript is a programming language that describes the appearance of a printed page. It was developed by Adobe in 1985 and has become an industry standard for printing and imaging. All major printer manufacturers make printers that contain or can be loaded with Postscript software. Such software also runs on all major operating system platforms. A Postscript file can typically be identified by its xe2x80x9c.psxe2x80x9d suffix. Postscript describes the text and graphic elements on a page to a blackand-white or color printer or other output device, such as a slide recorder, imagesetter, or screen display. Postscript handles industry-standard, scalable typefaces in the Type 1 and TrueType formats. Users can convert Postscript files to the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) using (for instance) the Adobe Distiller product. PDF files present the document""s printed appearance on a display screen. Encapsulation is the inclusion within the file of all the resources needed for the file to be printed (or displayed). Other such centralized tasks might include creation, trapping, color separation, and imposition of Print Ready Files.
A set of business logic (or the like) can therefore be applied to a print job, in that the setup associated with such processes can be accomplished at the front-end by the user, when the user specifies the print job. The centralized server can thereafter take all of the setup data and generate a completed print job, or in other words, a complete PRF for use by a print vendor.
As described in the incorporated references, a PRF is comprised of a combination of graphical, text, and line elements. The graphical elements typically include EPS files. A number of available software tools can be used by a human operator to create, review, and edit EPS files. However, EPS files that ultimately come out of such software and Graphic Art products such as Illustrator, Quark, Pagemaker, or Photoshop all have certain differences, or eccentricities, which are difficult to account for and process on a consistent basis. Such differences might include the setting of parameters for fonts (i.e. leading, size, kerning), linescreen, angle, transfer functions (and other device specific PostScript operators), scaling of graphics, addition of spot colors, and so forth.
Still another resulting practice in creating files involves embedding EPS files within EPS files (and so forth), wherein such files are eventually included in the overall PRF. Such multi-layering of files can produce a tangled series of information, which can prove to be difficult to process when trying to parse color information (and the like) from the EPS file.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a prior art block diagram is shown of certain representative steps 100 which might be used by an human operator (or user) to create an EPS file. In step 102, the user creates and/or imports graphical elements into a Graphic Art application. In step 104, the user sets various parameters associated with the file, as per the particular interface associated with the Graphic Art application. The parameters might include information such as type, fonts, leading, scaling, and color separation. In step 106, the user outputs the EPS file using the Graphic Art program, which is often in a proprietary format. The prior art does not ensure referential integrity or consistent settings for color in such files. Software systems developed by different companies do not typically have a shared data structure for reference by the different applications.
The prior art does include Preflight checking and the like. Such Preflight checking analyzes and detects problems in EPS files. However, such Preflight checking methods do nothing to fix (or standardize) the EPS file results.
Accordingly, a solution is needed which will normalize the information used to produce an EPS file. In other words, the EPS file should be xe2x80x9cwashed.xe2x80x9d This will allow the various applications used to process a graphical file that will run in an automated environment wherein the color settings are set as policies, and can be managed, updated, and tested automatically. The policies can be stored in a central database. The washing process removes problems and anomalies, and creates an EPS file that can be commonly shared in known format. The format might include PostScript Level 1 code, with removal of incompatible operators, and a PostScript header that is consistent between various files.
In response to aforementioned costly, cumbersome and error-prone environment, the present invention utilizes certain technology, along with an interface medium such as the Internet, to offer a fully automated, efficient and cost-effective solution for producing print jobs and the like. The present invention reduces the number of times that human intervention is required in the process and thereby reduces labor intensity, labor cost, time, and high error rates. In particular, color washing of EPS files is performed as one Pre-press operation in order to provide a consistent format for graphical files.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the Farm system can be configured to provide load balancing aspects, in association with performing a variety of operations, and in association with processing jobs submitted by clients using the system. Each job is analyzed to provide an estimate of its relative impact on the overall system, based upon exemplary factors such as job size and CPU usage for each server. The Farm system is scalable, and is controlled via a single point of contact called the Master Farmer. As different jobs are queued up by the Master Farmer, different Farm services can be brought online to process these various jobs. Each job is handled by a particular Plot, and each Plot is controlled by a Field, which is specific to that Plot. A Farm service might control several Fields, and the Master Farmer might control several Farm services. Each different Plot is configured to run out-of-process from the Farm main process. This is to prevent crashes associated with one Plot. If a particular Farm service crashes, its jobs can be rerouted to other Farm services. When a client submits a particular job, the size of the job is used to estimate how long it will take to process. This estimate is returned to the client and updated periodically. In general, the Farm system utilizes very little overhead, and each Farm service can be configured to run any of the file processing tasks.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a number of different operations can be performed in the server network of the present invention. In particular, the Farm service might host a variety of Prepress applications that are used in association with automatically creating and processing the PRF. The presently described (color) washing operation is one of several Prepress operations that can be automated in this fashion, namely by hosting the application on a server or other networked computer, and maintaining control of its operations as part of a distributed Prepress software operation. Other operations might include, but are not limited to, creation, trapping, color separation, and imposition, all in association with the Print Ready Files.
In order to automate the running of such Prepress operations, a series of communication links back to a centralized system are necessary. Certain operations are specified to be performed in order to create a PRF, and the present system thereby processes these automatically to create PRF. In prior systems, manual or discrete processes were performed on the file, by design houses, print shops, and the like. The processes were performed and recorded (or stored) back on a network or storage system. Each subsequent operation was then performed on the file by retrieving it, and returning to storage. Hence, in order to automate such Prepress operations, a system should have application server capability, and messaging capability about each particular application being run. Under such a system, a variety of applications can be run, but the CPU usage can be tracked according to job size, and the like. According to what kinds of files, and the size of the files to be run, load balancing can be performed.
Prior load balancing application servers would generally take any tasks placed on the network, and deal with emergency conditions as the criteria for passing work off to another server. Such systems generally do not know what applications are running on them (i.e. Word, Excel, etc.), but simply watch for the emergency conditions. When such conditions occur, tasks are shunted off to another server. In contrast, the present system manages ahead of the processes, and keeps track of what jobs and loads are being placed on the different servers comprising a system. The system employs knowledge of the different applications, and what kind of workload such applications will generate on a server. Such metadata is built into the present Farm system in determining how underlying Fields will allocate incoming jobs.
The washing Prepress operation can be described as follows: EPS is a file format used in Prepress operations. EPS contains the information required to create a printed document containing graphics images. Along with the imaging bits, EPS files contain a variety of other data pertaining to reproduction of the image, for digital display or for print. Such other data might include, but is not limited to, color selections, color settings, scaling of graphics, embedded fonts, and so forth. As a result of the variety of other data, certain problems are addressed and solved by the present invention in association with the automated processing of the documents having EPS files. Moreover, the use of EPS files is a specialized example in the generalized use of xe2x80x9cconsistent PostScriptxe2x80x9d Print Ready Files, as described in the incorporated references.
The present invention provides a process to normalize (or xe2x80x9cwashxe2x80x9d) the information that might be shared between a variety of software applications working on a file. A shared data structure results. This permits such applications to run in an automated environment wherein the color settings are set as policies. The policies can be managed, updated and tested automatically. These policies can be stored in the ILIAD database. The washing process removes problems and anomalies, and creates an EPS file that is a xe2x80x9ccommon denominatorxe2x80x9d EPS file. According to one aspect, all PostScript in this resulting file is converted to Level 1. Other Levels of PostScript might similarly be used. Incompatible operators are removed, and a PostScript header is created that is consistent and readable time after time.
Washing is therefore performed to provide EPS graphics that are structured in a consistent format. Among other things, washing can be used to: validate inks contained in the graphics as valid inks in a database (i.e. ILIAD, or otherwise); ensure that high resolution and low resolution versions of graphics contain the same inks; and to manipulate the size of low resolution graphics. The process of washing accomplishes such structuring of graphics in a consistent format by using Adobe Acrobat Distiller and the PDF library thereby associated with it. An EPS file is processed through Distiller, thereby creating a PDF. The PDF is then exported to a new PostScript file using the PDF library. The PDF library has the capability to rewrite the PDF format into a standard PostScript output.
Validation of inks is accomplished by parsing the standard exchange output Postscript file. Inks inside the file can be located and recorded. The inks are then checked against databased inks, and also against their low resolution/high resolution counterparts. In pre-washed EPS files, the various inks in the file can be located in different (and inconsistent) places throughout the file output structure. The present invention provides a significant advantage over such prior art systems, in that it would be extremely difficult to find and record inks in such a pre-washed EPS file.
The size of the low resolution graphics can also be manipulated by using the Distiller down-sampling capabilities. Distiller exposes an API, which can be used for manipulating the dpi (dot per inch) values of color, black and white, and grayscale images.
The resulting output from the automated washing process, as contrasted with the prior art includes, but is not limited to the following advantages:
(i) Washed EPS files are produced automatically by a hosted server application in an automated Prepress management system that is highly scalable; Unwashed EPS files are produced by human hands in error prone graphical art programs.
(ii) Washed EPS files produce PostScript in the same level. Any embedded files are converted to level 1, creating a common denominator for EPS files; Unwashed EPS files can produce level 3 PostScript embedded within level 1 or level 2 PostScript documents causing some RIPs to crash.
(iii) Washed EPS PostScript headers are rewritten with accurate information. Any downstream applications using a washed file can rely upon consistent header information; Unwashed EPS files result in some applications generating PostScript headers with erroneous and/or inaccurate information. Applications downstream cannot rely upon consistent head information.
(iv) Washed EPS files are validated for use in the ILIAD system; Unwashed EPS files are not validated and have the possibility of producing errors in the ILIAD system.
(v) Washed EPS files are tracked in the ILIAD system; Unwashed EPS files are not tracked.
(vi) Washed EPS files result in PostScript in an ASCII readable format; Unwashed EPS files can be in a binary, unreadable format.
According to one aspect of the present invention, herein provided is a method for processing an image file and producing a consistent structure for visual medium materials contained within the file, the method comprising: specifying source and destination file addresses on a storage medium; storing an unprocessed image file at the source address; retrieving the unprocessed image file and using at least a first conversion routine to thereby produce a vector-based medium file which is placed on the storage medium; retrieving the vector-based medium file and using at least a second conversion routine to produce a consistently structured file which is placed on the storage medium.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, herein provided is a method to normalize the information in a file, as shared between a variety of software applications working on the file, the method comprising: forming a source Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file, whereby the EPS file contains unstructured information required to create a printed document containing graphics images; converting the source EPS file to a Portable Document Format (PDF) file, whereby the file is structured using a PDF library of functions; converting the PDF file to a normalized EPS file having a shared data structure, whereby software applications can use the shared data structure to access the normalized file in a printing operation.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, load balancing of print jobs can be applied via analysis of the job size in relation to the processing capabilities of the associated device running the job processing application.